Winter Park Village is getting a couple of new tenants. A store called Soccer Locker will be opening soon, near Learning Express Toys. A place called Taps, which will sell wine, beer and food, will also open near the movie theater.

And they're off: Central Florida's first Trader Joe's opened its doors this morning, and more than 300 eager customers streamed in to check out the inexpensive wines and famed selection of private-label foods. Inside the Winter Park store, music played and employees handed out Hawaiian leis to customers -- an opening-day tradition. The first customer to check out -- seconds after the store opened -- was Carol Ellingson of Altamonte Springs. "This was my goal," she said, clutching a jar of cookie butter.

A new tea shop is set to open this month in Winter Park Village. Tea and Tea will serve about 100 varieties of its namesake beverage, along with pastries. A cup of tea will range from $3.50 to $5. The shop will seat about 12 people. It will also have a retail operation. It is replacing Deja vu Creperie, which closed in February.

I am a bulldog. No, I am not rough and tough; I'm a Fern Creek Elementary School alumna. In the 1980s, you could often find me donning pigtails, a Fern Creek bulldogs T-shirt and my safety-patrol belt. Memories of my time there have a sort of magical quality. There were wonderful teachers, friends from all backgrounds, and all the fun small-school activities you might imagine: Halloween parades, science fairs, roller-skating parties and theater productions, many of which continue to this day. It's the type of school parents hope their children will attend.

WINTER PARK - As the grocery wars heat up on U.S. Highway 17-92, Publix is tearing down its store at Winter Park Village to make room for a new store with more amenities. The location will be rebuilt, with the new store featuring a Publix Aprons Cooking School, according to the Lakeland-based supermarket chain. An employee at the store said it is slated to close April 19 and reopen sometime before the holidays. He said employees are expected to go to work at other stores during the closure.

One of Winter Park Village's original tenants, a New Balance athletic shoe store, has closed. The store closed this week, property manager Maureen Andres said. It had been operated by a franchisee. Officals at New Balance's corporate headquarters could not immediately be reached for comment.

WINTER PARK -- Winter Park Village -- the successful experiment in retail and entertainment -- may soon get more than 200 condominiums to complete the village concept. Developer Casto Lifestyle Properties unveiled plans for the next phase Wednesday to about 150 residents at the Rachel D. Murrah Civic Center. The reception was cool, with concerns focused on the four-story height, the density of multifamily buildings, and the impact on traffic and city services. "Winter Park is going to turn into a four-story condo community," said Mary Randall, who lives about four blocks south of Winter Park Village.

WINTER PARK -- Developers have revived controversial plans to build five stories of condos in the popular Winter Park Village. This time they say they have figured out a way to solve the weekend hot spot's constant parking crunch, but some residents and city officials say their original concern -- that the project is just too big -- remains. Last year, the Winter Park City Commission approved plans for a five-story, half-million-square-foot apartment and parking complex in the Village, choosing to overrule its own planning and zoning commission and overlook concerns about parking and size.

Even Winter Park was hit by the Great Recession. Although it may not have been as bad off as some other parts of Central Florida, the city's commercial strip along U.S. Highway 17-92 paid a price: Office space sat empty for years, an ice-cream shop gave way to a "we buy gold" store and the Borders bookstore closed as the national chain went out of business. These days, however, the sound of construction has returned to the area around Winter Park Village. Several projects will bring banks, restaurants, office space and more to the 17-92 vicinity.

WINTER PARK - Dillard's hasn't renewed its lease at the Winter Park Village, and developers already are talking with prospective tenants that include a hotel, apartments and retailers.Dillard's lease, executed in 1963, expires at the end of the year. The department store had until Jan. 31 to renew it for another 10 years at the price it now pays, said Charles Parker, development manager with the Don M. Casto Organization.Casto is overseeing the transformation of the demolished Winter Park Mall into the new 500,000-square-foot Winter Park Village, a town center with eateries, shops and a movie theater.

Don't forget to check out food editor Heather McPherson's guide for Mother's Day dining at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/restaurants Now let's see what our busy super shoppers have been up to this week. Found Wade tells me organic pine nuts are sold at Chamberlins Natural Foods stores. The markets sell seasoned pine nuts as well. There are six Chamberlins in Central Florida including stores at The Marketplace, 7600 Dr. Phillips Blvd. in Orlando, and Winter Park Village, 430 N. Orlando Ave. in Winter Park.

A new tea shop is set to open this month in Winter Park Village. Tea and Tea will serve about 100 varieties of its namesake beverage, along with pastries. A cup of tea will range from $3.50 to $5. The shop will seat about 12 people. It will also have a retail operation. It is replacing Deja vu Creperie, which closed in February.

Encore Development is awaiting approval from Osceola County to develop the old Splendid China theme-park site on U.S. Highway 192 as a $700 million mixed-use "residential resort" with homes and short-term rentals. Jim Bagley, who heads Encore Development, said his company submitted plans to the county 60 days ago and hopes to start work in July or August on a community to be called Rolling Oaks. The Orlando-based company last year purchased the 315-acre site, where the theme park operated for a decade starting in 1993.

Oviedo's decade-long vision of creating a vibrant town center - where residents can live, shop, dine or just spread a blanket on the grass to watch a concert - will soon take a major step forward when construction begins on Center Lake Park in the coming weeks. Tucked just north of East Mitchell Hammock Road, the 5-acre park will feature an amphitheater, dog park, a veterans memorial and paddle boats decorated to look like Oviedo's famous chickens. Center Lake Park is the first key segment of the long-planned "Oviedo on the Park," a 108-acre urban center with more than $200 million worth of homes, offices and restaurants on the city's drawing board since 2003.

WINTER PARK - As the grocery wars heat up on U.S. Highway 17-92, Publix is tearing down its store at Winter Park Village to make room for a new store with more amenities. The location will be rebuilt, with the new store featuring a Publix Aprons Cooking School, according to the Lakeland-based supermarket chain. An employee at the store said it is slated to close April 19 and reopen sometime before the holidays. He said employees are expected to go to work at other stores during the closure.

Another Broken Egg Cafe has cracked the Central Florida breakfast market. With an ambience that is reminiscent of Mimi's Cafe and other upscale-casual eateries that capitalize on our love of the endless brunch, Another Broken Egg also brings a fresh option to the restaurant lineup at Winter Park Village. This location of the Southern-based chain is near Chamberlin's market in a space formerly occupied by Truffles Grill. Frustrated by not being able to find a decent brunch, Ron Green came up with the idea for Another Broken Egg in 1994.

It may seem like ancient history today, Rick Foglesong noted, but what some people might not realize is the major role that Winter Park played in the location of Interstate 4. Foglesong, a professor of politics at Rollins College, noted that I-4 is about to undergo a major transformation thanks to a road widening project known as the Ultimate I-4 Project. It will create four lanes on each side, with a toll road in-between. That construction project is set to begin in September.